My husband’s day job is in marketing, but his true love is music. Andrew has earned his Associateship in Music in piano performance, and still loves to relax making music.

A few days before Christmas, he went into a recording studio to make some of his music into a CD. Our talented friend Laura McAlpine accompanied him on vocals. We know Laura from the time they played together in the church rock band at Islington United. She has a glorious voice, and we have a tremendous amount of respect for her talent – and her friendship.

Together they recorded three original compositions and Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah”. I think the finished results are so amazing that I wanted to share them with you. The most polished piece in the collection is “Prints in the Sand”, based on the well-known poem “Footprints in the Sand”. Andrew and Laura played this many times in the past and everything just clicked in the studio. I think this version sounds absolutely perfect! You can listen to it here.

But the song I’m proudest of is “Bouquet”. That’s because my 16-year-old daughter wrote the lyrics for it! At Andrew’s request, she gave him lyrics for his birthday gift, and he composed the music to go with it. I may be slightly biased, but I think it’s sensational! Here’s the link.

Oh wow, I can see why you are so impressed, it's beautiful. Your daughter's lyrics were awesome. I know you will be listening to these 3 songs over and over, I know I would. I would be sharing this with everyone!

I'm constantly amazed by you and your family, Beth. What a traveling, cultured, talented group! The lyrics your daughter wrote are amazing, she's quite ahead of her time. As a fan of Leonard Cohen, I love what your husband and friend did with his song. I'd love to hear them do his Famous Blue Raincoat! :-)

It's gorgeous! I love the lyrics. The opening is very striking with the image of the glass slipper breaking and then talking about how the shards are tearing us to shreds. And your friend has such a beautiful voice!